Bahrain, Haiti Open Consulates respectively in Laayoune and Dakhla

This Monday saw the number of countries having opened diplomatic representations in the Moroccan Sahara increase by two new missions in Laayoune and Dakhla.

Bahrain has thus opened this December 14 a consulate general in Laayoune, at a ceremony co-chaired by the Bahraini and Moroccan Foreign Ministers Abdullatif Al Zayani and Nasser Bourita.

 

Bahrain, the second Arab country to set up a general consulate in Laayoune after the United Arab Emirates, announced the move on November 26.

King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain had then informed King Mohammed VI of his decision during a phone call and on Sunday Dec.13 he issued a royal announcing the officialization of Bahrain’s decision to open a consulate in Laayoune.

Bahrain’s decision came soon after Morocco lifted a blockade by the separatist Polisario Front at the Guerguarat crossing point, near the Moroccan-Mauritanian border.

 

The Arab Gulf country was among the first states that expressed solidarity with Morocco for its decision to lift the blockade and the inauguration of the General Consulate re-affirms Bahrain’s support for Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara.

In Dakhla, the Ambassador of Haiti in Canada, Weibert Arthus, and Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita chaired this Monday Dec.14 the opening of a consulate general of the Republic of Haiti.

Haiti becomes thus the first Caribbean, non-Arab and non-African country to open its diplomatic representation in the Sahara, in its recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the region.

 

Haiti first announced its decision to open its consulate general in Dakhla on November 24.

 

In total, 20 countries have opened or announced plans to open diplomatic representations in Laayoune and Dakhla, southern Morocco.

 

Laayoune’s diplomatic district now hosts consulates general of Comoros, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Burundi, Eswatini, Zambia, the UAE, and Bahrain.

 

Meanwhile, Dakhla hosts consulates of The Gambia, Guinea, Djibouti, Liberia, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, and Haiti.

 

Foreign Minister announced Monday the opening of two more diplomatic representations in the coming days, probably a Jordanian consulate general in Laayoune as announced on November 19 by King Abdullah II, and a US consulate general in Dakhla, as announced last week by President Donald Trump.

 

Both announcements were made during phone talks with King Mohammed VI.

 

The opening of these diplomatic representations in the southern provinces reflects growing support for Morocco’s legitimate cause and its sovereignty over its Sahara.